Lendager Group have released drawings and renderings of Stedsans in the Woods, a farming development currently in progress in the deep Swedish wilderness. A collaboration with restaurant owners Mette Helbæk and Flemming Hansen, the project will feature a permaculture farm, restaurant, and lodging. A focus on sustainability and living off the landscape drives both the architecture and the Stedsans brand, who stress the idea of ‘giving more than we take.’ Located in Bohult, Sweden, the development offers visitors an escape from the city with opportunities for fresh dining and connecting with nature.

Helbæk and Hansen have a long history with investing in farming as former owners of a popular restaurant in Copenhagen that served locally-sourced produce. Their dedication to sustainability and food has garnered widespread public attention, seen in the success of their Kickstarter for the project which raised over 1,000,000 SEK ($120,000 USD).

The core of the development is called the “Third Space” and it houses the restaurant and cooking facilities. According to the architects, the main structure is repurposed from two wooden ladders sourced from Slöinge, Sweden. With big rocks and concrete acting as additional support, the rest of the enclosure is a glass greenhouse system. The form of the building is split into two intersecting triangular prisms, one housing outdoor ovens and the other providing dining and cooking prep space. Guests eat at one long table that can fit 30 people.

Visitors to the site will be lodged in one of the 14 small cabins located around the site. To showcase a wide range of forest scenery, an assortment of cabins will be placed to include views of the lake, and some will float on it. Additionally there will be a grouping of cabins deeper in the woods, with some canopying between the trees.

An integral part of the design process for both the clients and architects was to create a project that had a limited environmental footprint. Lendager Group, is known for their dedication to experimenting with old or raw materials in a process known as “upcycling.” By repurposing materials from nearby structures, using rammed earth for the interior walls, and including stones from the excavation process, Stedsans in the Woods looked to its building materials as an opportunity to be as sustainable as possible.

Imagine the floor of the woods as a playground where old waste wood, rammed earth, old barns, abandoned glass from industrial greenhouses are upcycled to build the sustainable permaculture farm of tomorrow described the architects.